Researchers around the world who study the interactions of humans and the oceans have identified harmful algal blooms (HABs) as a leading threat to human and environmental health. In many cases, human-HAB interactions may represent distinctive examples of mixed anthropogenic-natural hazards, the study of which could lead to new insights about the processes of dynamically coupled systems of humans and nature and their implications for social welfare. We seek to understand how the dynamic interactions between natural and human systems influence and inform society’s choice of policies for mitigating the economic, ecological, and public health effects of K. brevis blooms along Florida’s Gulf of Mexico coast.